- Pope Leo XIV sends generators, medical supplies to Ukraine
Source: The Hill
“Pope Leo XIV has sent 80 generators and medical supplies to Ukraine to support the country’s civilians as its war against Russia and cold winter weather continue. The aid comes as bishops talked about how Russia’s attacks have put a strain on the country’s energy infrastructure. The deliveries came Monday to the cities of Kyiv and Fastiv, which have seen the brunt of the war. Medical supplies, including thousands of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, supplements and melatonin, also followed. According to local outlet Kyiv Independent, Vatican officials said melatonin was in high demand because Ukrainians have struggled with sleep deprivation.” (02/11/26)
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5732442-pope-leo-xiv-generators-supplies-ukraine/
- Russia: Regime says again that it will stick to limits on nuclear weapons in expired New START treaty, if US regime does
Source: CBS News
“Russia will continue to observe the limits set under the recently-expired New START nuclear arms reduction treaty if the United States does the same, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday. … The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) was signed in 2010 between the U.S. and Russia. It limited the number of strategic nuclear warheads that both countries could have deployed to 1,550, and included verification measures such as on-site inspections and data exchanges designed to ensure compliance. The pact was originally set to expire in February 2021, but it was extended for five years by former President Joe Biden, keeping it in force until February 2026.” (02/11/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-nuclear-weapons-treaty-us-new-start-latest-putin-trump/
- NATO launches Arctic Sentry military effort as it seeks to move on from Greenland dispute
Source: ABC News
“NATO on Wednesday launched a new military effort dubbed Arctic Sentry aimed at improving security in the High North, a month after U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up tensions within the alliance over his threats to annex Greenland. Initially, Arctic Sentry will be the NATO label for national military exercises in the region, such as Denmark’s Arctic Endurance — which angered Trump so much that he threatened to slap tariffs on allies taking part — and Norway’s Cold Response drills. Arctic Sentry does not involve the permanent or even long-term deployment of troops to the region under a NATO banner. NATO’s role in this series of military activities, which will be coordinated through its U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, is aimed at countering Russian and Chinese influence in the High North, which includes Greenland.” (02/11/26)
- NY: Mamdani asks lawmakers for 2% tax hike on wealthy
Source: New York Post
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani told state lawmakers on Wednesday that the only way out of the city’s $12 billion budget gap is to raise taxes on the wealthy. Hizzoner, during his first Tin Cup Day in Albany, formally called on the state Legislature to raise income taxes on people making more than $1 million by 2%. ‘I’m asking for a 2% raise in personal income taxes on the most affluent New Yorkers, someone earning $1 million a year. The top 1% of New York City can afford to contribute $20,000 more in taxes,’ the young mayor said. ‘That 2% tax alone would resolve nearly half of our budget deficit. I will continue to advocate for these policies not only because they offer the most direct route out of this budget crisis, but because they will also transform what is possible in our state.'” (02/11/25)
https://nypost.com/2026/02/11/us-news/zohran-mamdani-asks-nys-lawmakers-for-2-tax-hike-on-wealthy/
- Lufthansa hit by “short notice” strike by pilots and cabin crews
Source: Politico
“Lufthansa announced Wednesday it expects a strike announced “at short notice” for Thursday to impact its flight schedule. The industrial action was called by the flight attendants’ union UFO and the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), Lufthansa said. Cabin crew union UFO said the strike notice was introduced after ‘the management has refused to enter into negotiations with us at all’ regarding working conditions and pensions. … According to the German news agency DW, the strike could affect all German airports, including the major international hubs of Frankfurt and Munich.” (02/11/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/lufthansa-hit-by-short-notice-strike-by-pilots-and-cabin-crews
- France: As Le Pen’s appeal trial ends, her presidential bid is at stake
Source: SFGate
“A Paris appeals court set a verdict date of July 7 for Marine Le Pen in her European Union misuse of funds case, a crucial decision that could derail the far-right leader’s presidential bid. The trial ended Wednesday with one question looming above all others — whether Le Pen will be able to run for president next year. Le Pen, 57, is challenging a March 2025 verdict that found her and other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. She denies accusations that she was at the center of a fraudulent system meant to siphon off EU funds. Asked by the court whether she’d like to say anything in conclusion, Le Pen declined to speak. She quickly left the courthouse without stopping in front of a crowd of reporters.” (02/11/25)
- Yemen: Several killed and wounded as crowd linked with STC storms regime building
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A crowd linked to Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has attempted to storm a local government building in the southeastern Yemeni city of Ataq, leaving several dead, according to local authorities and sources. The security committee in Shabwah governorate said armed fighters assaulted security and military personnel and fired live ammunition during Wednesday’s attack, resulting in casualties as official forces intervened. … Rami Lamlas, deputy head of the Shabwah General Hospital Authority, told Al Jazeera that five people were killed and 39 wounded when security and military forces dispersed demonstrators affiliated with the STC.” (02/11/26)
- ICE gang shot-caller refuses to resign under pressure from Swalwell not to “side with killers”
Source: Fox News
“Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons refused to resign under pressure from Rep. Eric Swalwell [D-CA] who offered him the ultimatum to do so, or ‘side with the killers.’ The heated exchange during Tuesday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing isn’t the first time Swalwell has confronted ICE over its mass deportation operations. … Swalwell told Lyons that continuing to lead ICE is a ‘choice’ and highlighted his preceding decorated military and law enforcement career. ‘You are what I would call ‘otherwise employable.’ I think most people would agree this is not the only job that you can get. But since you’ve been on this job, women have been dragged by their hair through streets. A 6-year-old child battling stage-four cancer has been deported. And it turns out he was a U.S. citizen,’ Swalwell claimed.” (02/11/25)
- Uber Eats adds AI assistant to help with grocery shopping
Source: The Verge
“Uber announced a new AI feature called ‘Cart Assistant” for grocery shopping in its Uber Eats app. The new feature works a couple different ways. You can use text prompts, as you would with any other AI chatbot, to ask it to build a grocery list for you. Or you can upload a picture of your shopping list and ask it to populate your cart with all your favorite items, based on your order history. … Uber says in the coming months, Cart Assistant will add more features, including ‘full recipe inspiration, meal plans, and the ability to ask follow up questions, and expand to retail partners.’ But like all chatbots, Uber acknowledges that Cart Assistant may make mistakes, and urges users to double-check and confirm the results before placing any orders.” (02/11/26)
https://www.theverge.com/transportation/876540/uber-eats-ai-chatbot-cart-assistant-grocery-shopping?
- Bondi tries to brazen her way through House hearing over her Epstein cover-up
Source: NBC News
“Attorney General Pam Bondi clashed with lawmakers during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, with the department’s handling of its Jeffrey Epstein records and its attempts to prosecute critics of President Donald Trump causing the most tension. … At times, Bondi’s performance on Wednesday seemed targeted specifically for Trump. She appeared to be reading off pre-written talking points on occasion and sang Trump’s praises, calling him ‘the greatest president in American history.’ Wednesday’s hearing devolved into a series of shouting matches as Democrats peppered Bondi with questions about Epstein and survivors of his abuse, many of whom attended the proceedings. … Bondi, in turn, repeatedly accused Democrats of ‘theatrics’ and said that she would not ‘get in the gutter with these people,’ though she repeatedly lobbed personal attacks on Democratic lawmakers.” (02/11/26)
- The Feds Won’t Certify Safe Vaccines Anymore. The Private Sector Is Stepping Up To Do It.
Source: Reason
by Ronald Bailey“In January, the CDC cut the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 16 to 10 by essentially adopting Denmark’s schedule. This change was not based on any evidence that the six targeted vaccines were unsafe or ineffective. Furthermore, Denmark’s reduced schedule is an outlier when compared to those of other developed countries. In response to the CDC’s cuts, American Academy of Pediatrics President (AAP) Andrew Racine stated, ‘Today’s announcement by federal health officials to arbitrarily stop recommending numerous routine childhood immunizations is dangerous and unnecessary.’ The AAP reaffirmed and recommended the original evidence-based immunization schedule. Now, the American Medical Association (AMA) is teaming up with the Vaccine Integrity Project at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota to privately evaluate the safety and efficacy of vaccines targeting three viral illnesses for the upcoming 2026–2027 respiratory virus season.” (02/11/26)
- Homeownership “Wealth” Is a Fallacy
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Artis Shepherd“It seems the housing market is destined to be the target of yet another administration’s clumsy tinkering. In another quiet-part-out-loud incident at the White House recently, the president was asked whether he would declare a national emergency in order to act on housing affordability. Trump responded that he doesn’t want house prices to go down because home valuations are such a large part of the ‘net worth’ of homeowners, especially those in ‘their later years.’ The exchange is worth watching. Note the collectivist premises underlying both the reporter’s question and the president’s answer.” (02/11/26)
- Liberate Education from the State
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Angelo Monaco“While we see in some states a move to allow greater choice among public schools it generally does not resolve the failings of public education. The promotion of school vouchers still involves government collection and redistribution of wealth and keeps the government-school system in existence. We need to go well beyond that idea. Entirely dismantling the tax-supported government K-12 school system would not only eliminate the immense overhead and regulatory costs associated with public schools, it would also improve the overall quality of education through free-market competition, especially for those in underserved communities. As for our colleges and universities, what will make things better is to withdraw all government support, which would force each school to shed the protections that are provided through politics and lobbying.” (02/11/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/liberate-education-from-the-state/
- The So-called “SAVE America Act” Is What Republicans Once Opposed
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye“Conservatives should oppose the SAVE America Act for the same reason many of us spent years opposing Democratic efforts to nationalize election administration: because elections in the United States are run by the states. That principle didn’t disappear just because Republicans are now the ones pushing the bill. If anything, this is exactly the kind of legislation conservatives used to warn about — federal mandates, national standards, and Washington inserting itself into decisions that have traditionally been made at the state and local level. For years, conservatives argued — correctly — that sweeping federal election laws undermine federalism, weaken local accountability, and create tools that will inevitably be abused by a future administration.” (02/10/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-so-called-save-america-act-is
- It’s easy to reduce corruption — cut government
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“The more economic democracy we have then the more it is politics that determines who is allowed to do what. Access to that decision making process thus has a higher value, more cash is offered for it. More simply, the more politicians decide the more valuable paying politicians is. Humans do more of things that are more valuable — economic democracy thus means more political corruption. The method of beating this is to make bribing — sorry, paying cash for access to — politicians not worth the game. Less politics in economic decision making that is.” (02/11/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/its-easy-to-reduce-corruption-cut-government
- Abolition, Amnesty, Decriminalization, Open Borders
Source: Liberal Currents
by Paul Crider“I could defend open borders by appealing to economics, pointing to trillion dollar bills on the sidewalk. We need immigrants to fill jobs native-born Americans cannot or will no longer perform. Or I could talk about how immigrants contribute to economic growth and contribute more over time to the public fisc than they take out. I could fixate on the terrible plight of refugees, and how it’s a humanitarian imperative to take in the needy stranger. … These are all true, and they are solid reasons to favor liberal immigration. But for my part, we should welcome the foreigner, and embrace them as a friend and potential American for the simple reason that migration is the pursuit of freedom and happiness by one’s own lights.” (02/11/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/abolition-amnesty-decriminalization-open-borders/
- Association must be voluntary, by mutual consent
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“If you believe the best solution to any problem, real or imagined, is to give government more control, you’re off base. The government-created issue of ‘immigration’ illustrates this perfectly. … Typically, you have people on one side who want government to ignore the Constitution and ‘control immigration’ pitted against people on the other side who want government to import every basket case from every third-world country, and then support them for the rest of their lives on tax money stolen from the productive residents. I want government out of the game altogether. Live where you want; make it on your own.” (02/11/26)
- Democrats now see the danger of concentrating power. Welcome!
Source: USA Today
by Dace Potas“President Donald Trump’s call to nationalize elections ahead of November has rightfully garnered plenty of opposition from Democrats, with many sounding the alarm for an authoritarian plot aimed at artificially boosting Republicans’ prospects. Democrats are rightly concerned with the federal government administering elections, which are a constitutional responsibility of the states. Thankfully, it won’t likely happen, but the response reveals something about this debate. Trump has wreaked havoc on the separation of powers and abused the power of his office. This is exacerbated by an increasingly powerful federal government and presidency. So I want to ask Democrats, progressives and anyone else to my left who have criticized the conservative views of limited government, federalism and separation of powers for years: Are you convinced yet?” (02/11/26)
- Defending the freedom to read is not radical — it’s American
Source: The Hill
by Kim A Snyder & Audrey Wilson-Youngblood“Political strategists and commentators are looking at Democrat Taylor Rehmet’s stunning special election victory in Texas state Senate District 9 to forecast electoral shifts ahead of 2026’s midterms. But those trying to understand this election’s surprise outcome also need to consider the local politics at play. Rehmet’s opponent was Republican Leigh Wambsganss, chief communications officer of conservative media company Patriot Mobile. She has been a primary architect behind the movement to populate North Texas school boards with candidates willing to orchestrate an extreme, right-wing takeover of public schools. These school board takeovers resulted in unprecedented book bans and attacks on residents’ right to read.” (02/11/26)
- The Bank of Big Medicine
Source: The American Prospect
by Olivia Webb Kosloff & Emma Freer“During back-to-back congressional hearings last month, lawmakers grilled the CEOs of five major health insurers about their vertically integrated business models. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called for breakup legislation modeled on the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, which structurally separated commercial and investment banking. The idea of bank-style regulation for health insurers isn’t as far off as it sounds. As Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) pointed out, insurance companies take in premiums and invest that money (known as ‘float’) before having to pay it out in claims. ‘That, of course, is what leads to people calling insurers banks, doing a side business as health care,’ Bentz explained. ‘[Y]ou charge the premium, you collect the money, you put the money in the bank, it earns interest, and then you pay it out.'” (02/11/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/02/11/bank-medicine-health-insurers-united-health-optum-financial/
- A Grand Jury Nullification of Malicious Tyranny
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“In what can be called an act of grand-jury nullification, a federal grand jury has rebuffed an effort by the U.S. Justice Department to seek criminal indictments of six members of Congress for having the audacity to remind American military personnel of their duty to refuse to obey unlawful orders of their superiors, including the president, who serves as commander in chief of the military. The grand-jury rebuff is shocking if for no other reason than a criminal indictment is one of the easiest things that a prosecutor can get.” (02/11/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/02/11/a-grand-jury-nullification-of-malicious-tyranny/
- Trump’s Pink Economy
Source: Unpopular Front
by John Ganz“Trump officials, sagging under the weight of relentless bad headlines, must be breathing a sigh of relief as the January job numbers came in much higher than expected, with 130,000 jobs added. But if you look a bit under the surface, you find a reality that’s a little more difficult for them to brag about. 2025 had some of the weakest job growth on record outside of an official recession. And most of the job growth in that year and this January has been in care work: healthcare and social services; 60 percent of all jobs in last month’s spike are in those fields. That’s important work, but it betokens an aging and ailing population.” (02/11/26)
- Americans Must Reject War with Iran
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison“Can you imagine any American leader agreeing to gutting the country’s defensive capabilities because a foreign government and its client demanded that we give it up or face an attack? Even if the governments threatening us were much more powerful and had already proven their willingness to attack us without cause, our leaders would rightly refuse to give in. They would understand that making concessions on these issues would just invite further aggression. The U.S. should not attack Iran, and it certainly shouldn’t do it to serve Netanyahu’s aggressive agenda.” (02/11/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/americans-must-reject-war-with-iran
- Trump has reversed the Biden-made manufacturing decline
Source: Washington Times
by Peter Navarro“As the Trump economy begins to boom even as inflation moderates, Democrats and the anti-Trump media are desperate for a spin that might discredit Trumponomics. Their latest Hail Mary: pushing a counterfactual narrative that President Trump’s tariffs are hurting, rather than stimulating, a manufacturing revival for blue-collar America. The latest manufacturing data obliterates that lie. In January, the ISM Manufacturing Index jumped 4.7 points to 52.6. That wasn’t just an estimate beat; it was a blowout, and an important one. The ISM Manufacturing Index is the most widely followed survey of factory activity worldwide. When it moves above 50, the manufacturing economy is expanding. When it jumps nearly 5 points in a single month to decisively push past 50, something fundamental has changed. That ‘something’ is Trumponomics finally overpowering the wreckage left behind by Bidenomics.” [editor’s note: Hooray! It’s only five points lower than it was a year into Biden’s term — and smidge higher than it was three years into Trump’s first term! Outside of COVID lows, it’s about average for the last five years – TLK] (02/10/25)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/feb/10/trump-reversed-biden-made-manufacturing-decline/
- Major corporations bankroll “America First” propaganda
Source: Popular Information
by Judd Legum“Mastercard, Deloitte, and ExxonMobil are spending millions to promote events supporting Trump and his divisive political agenda.” (02/11/26)
- What Makes a Good Federal Reserve Chair? It Depends on Independence
Source: The Daily Economy
by Nicolas Cachanosky“The nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair has many people wondering: What makes a good Fed chair? The answer, it turns out, depends on the environment in which the chair will operate. The characteristics that matter most for running an independent central bank differ from those for a central bank under pressure from political actors. Understanding this distinction is important for evaluating the president’s nominee.” (02/11/26)
- The Banality of MAGA Evil
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman“There’s a longstanding tradition in American politics of what Richard Hofstadter famously called the paranoid style – a way of thinking that sees conspiracies lurking everywhere. MAGA-world is particularly riddled with conspiracy thinking – from George Soros and Jewish space lasers, QAnon and the Great Replacement Theory, to Italian satellites hacking into voting machines to deliver the 2020 election to Joe Biden. But these are far-fetched fantasies. The truth is far more banal and shocking. There are people in positions of great power in the U.S. government engaged in evil conspiracies against everything that is good and decent. Their conspiracies are far more extensive and damaging than almost anyone imagined. But there are no evil masterminds behind this. Only amoral, stupid grifters like Howard Lutnick.” (02/11/26)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-banality-of-maga-evil
- “Carte Blanche for Ruthlessness”
Source: In These Times
by Kathryn Joyce“On February 4, former FOX News host Tucker Carlson delivered what, in other times, would be a shocking assessment: that the future of the Republican Party is a 31-year-old, long-shot candidate in Florida’s gubernatorial race with a string of financial and sexual misconduct allegations but a marked talent for attention-getting provocations. Over the course of James Fishback’s still-young candidacy, he has ostentatiously courted the followers of extreme far-right commentator Nick Fuentes and referred to his Black primary opponent, frontrunner Rep. Byron Donalds, as a ’slave’ (to his donors) who would make Florida ‘a Section 8 ghetto.’ He called for raising tuition for foreign university students to $1 million per year, pledged to expel ‘“every illegal immigrant child’ from the state’s K-12 schools and told a white supremacist social media influencer that ’the great replacement and white genocide’ were the most important political issues other Republicans ignore.” (02/10/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/laura-field-interview-right-wing-fascism-trump-maga
- Blame Overregulation for High Child Care Costs
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“Child care is expensive in New York City, and like the political snake-oil salesman that he is, Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he has a fix: The government will provide! We have yet to see a good explanation as to why child care should be the one service that government can offer cheaper and better than the marketplace, but Mamdani is a true-believing socialist who claims that everything is better when it’s run and portioned out by politicians. Inconveniently for him, researchers say the big barrier in New York to affordable care for kids is costly overregulation.” (02/11/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/11/blame-overregulation-for-high-child-care-costs/
- Americans are tough graders on Trump’s economy
Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru“The economy is growing. Unemployment is low. Wages, for most people, are rising faster than prices. Stocks are rising. Yet the public keeps giving the economy a thumbs-way-down. Gallup finds that only 21 percent of Americans give it an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ rating. That’s roughly the same as the percentage that felt positively about the economy in April 2013, during the painfully slow recovery from the Great Recession, when the unemployment rate was 7.5 percent instead of the current 4.4. At first glance, the dissatisfaction looks disproportionate to the statistics.” (02/11/26)
- Why Politicians Hate Productivity (and Robots)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Alejandro A Tagliavini“The advance of automation has accelerated the development of machines capable of performing repetitive and physically-demanding tasks, transforming processes that once took hours into actions that are now completed in minutes. For example, the robotic arm developed by Pickle Robot Company was specifically designed to handle packages in logistics environments. Its main function is to load and unload boxes from trucks with precision, a task that demands significant physical effort and poses risks to workers. In other words, technology increases productivity and quality of life by eliminating physical exertion, and workers can invest that saved time in other tasks, expanding and developing human knowledge. It goes without saying that politicians don’t like robots since they don’t pay personal taxes or contribute to state ‘social security’ funds that enrich bureaucrats and their cronies. But they don’t just hate robotics; they hate productivity in general.” (02/11/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/why-politicians-hate-productivity-and-robots
- Demystifying Islam’s Golden Age
Source: Law & Liberty
by Jonathan Leaf“Many in the Islamic world continue to believe that the answer to their struggles is the restoration of the old caliphate system. Hamas, for instance, called for this in its founding charter. This was also the impassioned dream of Osama bin Laden. Spurring these beliefs are a series of widely-held notions about the past. Given the powerful present-day interest, attraction, and obsession with the idea, we need to arrive at an accurate estimate of the caliphates.” (02/11/26)
- To Save Social Security, Stop Subsidizing Wealthy Retirees
Source: The Daily Economy
by Romina Boccia“Social Security is drifting toward a cliff, and Congress keeps pretending the shortfall will fix itself. It won’t. Absent reform, benefits will be cut across the board by roughly 23 percent within six years. That outcome would harm retirees who depend on Social Security the most — while barely affecting the living standards of those who do not need financial support in old age. There is a better option: reduce distributions to the wealthiest retirees, preserving them for those most dependent on benefits.” (02/11/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/to-save-social-security-stop-subsidizing-wealthy-retirees/
- NY Times columnist sinks to sick new low mocking JD Vance’s mom
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley“In a post on Bluesky, [Jamelle] Bouie mocked the addiction of the mother of Vice President JD Vance, saying that she should have sold her son for drugs. Bouie used Bluesky — a digital safe zone for viewpoint intolerance on the left — to post one of the most reprehensible attacks on Vance, [writing] that ‘this is a wicked man who knows he is being wicked and does it anyway.’ That is hardly notable on today’s rage scale. However, he then decided to use the painful addiction history of Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins, against her son: ‘No wonder his mom tried to sell him for Percocets. I can’t imagine a parent who wouldn’t sell little JD for Percocet if they knew he would turn out like this.'” [editor’s note: Not a very nice thing to say about Vance’s mom, but he certainly described Vance accurately – TLK] (02/11/25)
- Lemon hires federal attorney who quit over handling of inquiry into Renee Good’s murder
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has hired a federal prosecutor, who quit amid the White House’s immigration blitz on Minneapolis, to defend him from charges related to his coverage of a church protest. Lemon officially brought Joseph H Thompson on to his legal team, according to a Tuesday court filing. Thompson, who Donald Trump had appointed acting US attorney for Minnesota in June, reportedly resigned in January over the justice department’s treatment of immigration enforcement. A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon, now an independent journalist, on charges of conspiracy and interfering with congregants’ constitutional rights to freely exercise their religion during an 18 January protest at the Cities church in St Paul.” (02/11/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/11/don-lemon-hires-federal-prosecutor-quit-ice-surge
- “Free” Surveillance Tech Still Comes at a High and Dangerous Cost
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Beryl Lipton & Sarah Hamid“Surveillance technology vendors, federal agencies, and wealthy private donors have long helped provide local law enforcement ‘free’ access to surveillance equipment that bypasses local oversight. The result is predictable: serious accountability gaps and data pipelines to other entities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), that expose millions of people to harm.” (02/11/26)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/free-surveillance-tech-still-comes-high-and-dangerous-cost
- Trump Should Revive the JCPOA To Prevent War With Iran
Source: Antiwar.com
by JD Hester“One of the biggest criticisms of those who opposed the JCPOA is that it did not meaningfully prevent Iran from supporting its regional proxies: the Yemeni Houthis, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Hamas. While these proxy groups threaten Israel, they do not constitute a threat to the United States. The second Trump administration must not make the same mistake as the Biden administration: prioritizing foreign nations over stopping nuclear proliferation. Reviving the JCPOA is not idealism; it is a pragmatic solution to the threat of nuclear proliferation.” (02/11/26)
- The China Collapse That Wasn’t
Source: The American Conservative
by Brandon J Weichert“Comforting narratives about Chinese internal dynamics are not just wrong, but dangerous.” (02/11/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-china-collapse-that-wasnt/
- Trump vs. his China hawks
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols“The president ushered in a bipartisan push for confrontation with Beijing in his first term. Is he now trying to usher it out?” (02/11/26)
- Shakespeare in Love and Grief
Source: Quillette
by Mallory Young“It appears that people now find comfort in the idea that the life of even the greatest of writers is no more satisfying than their own.” (02/11/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/02/11/shakespeare-in-love-and-grief-hamnet-upstart-crow-review/
- When the Oligarchs Don’t Need You Anymore
Source: CounterPunch
by Kathleen Wallace“We have a group of men who are actively preparing themselves for a societal collapse. In fact, by their own writings, they invite it. They build bunkers to hurriedly protect themselves from the fallout of their own actions. They seem to only want enough humans around to serve them in ways that AI cannot and even that looks to be an infinitesimally small number. … In a nation flush with cash, but not for you, millions are cast off on Medicaid, in what can only be considered a premeditated murder of the masses. But you see, they don’t care. It’s not an unfortunate side effect or a required austerity measure in a time of crisis. It is a class of individuals who do not see themselves as one of us.” (02/11/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/11/when-the-oligarchs-dont-need-you-anymore/
- Our Leaders Couldn’t Fix Our Problems, Even If They Wanted To
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Our leaders are not going to fix the worst problems in our world. They couldn’t if they wanted to. And they don’t want to. [They] are not wise or insightful. They’re not even particularly intelligent. Our society is led by plutocrats who only know how to make more money, by unelected empire managers who only know how to dominate and control, and by elected politicians who only know how to say the right words and make the right bargains in order to get themselves elected. … Even if they weren’t a bunch of evil sociopaths who are only in the positions they’re in because of their willingness to collaborate with the agendas of oligarchy, war, militarism, imperialism, ecocide, exploitation, oppression and planetary domination, they don’t even have the personal characteristics necessary to do things like end poverty, rescue our biosphere, bring about world peace or give rise to human thriving.” (02/11/25)
- The Political Orphanage, 02/11/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Jeff Flake Alone on an Island with a Knife.” (02/11/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/jeff-flake-alone-on-an-island-with-a-knife
- System Update, 02/11/26
Source: System Update
“Howard Lutnick’s Blatant Lies About Epstein Ties.” (02/11/26)
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/howard-lutnicks-blatant-lies-about
- The Next Level, 02/10/26
Source: The Bulwark
“JVL, Sarah Longwell, and Tim Miller relish Trump’s losing streak—from +6 approval to –14 — and why slipping GOP support could signal a Bush-style collapse. They also get into inflation backlash, the White House’s ‘Don’t Be a Panican’ spin, and the early cracks forming inside MAGA. Is this the start of a 2006-level wave?” (02/10/26)
- The Briefing Podcast with Michael Waldman, 02/11/26
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“How the Justice Department Came to Threaten Elections (with Eileen O’Connor and Chris Berger).” (02/11/26)
- Half the Answer, episode 64
Source: Liberal Currents
“Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself?” (02/11/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/half-the-answer-64-love-thy-neighbor-as-thyself/
- The David Frum Show, 02/11/26
Source: The Atlantic
“How Trump Could Break the 2026 Elections.” (02/11/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/02/david-frum-show-stephen-richer-2026-elections/685960/
- Rising, 02/11/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers radar on the success of Turning Point USA’s half time show after which the conservative non-profit gained over 1 Million subscribers on YouTube.” (02/11/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5729364-rising-february-11-2026/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/11/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“War Is Not Peace.” (02/11/26)
- Reveal, 02/11/26
Source: Mother Jones
“How Project 2025 Is Reshaping Our Country.” (02/11/26)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/project-2025-donald-trump-dei-chirstian-nationalism/
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 02/11/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Black Box ‘Realism’ | Interview: Elliott Abrams.” (02/11/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/black-box-realism-interview-elliott-abrams/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 02/11/26
Source: The New Republic
“Krugman: Trump’s Own Adviser Just Admitted to the Scam at MAGA’s Core.” (02/11/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206443/krugman-trump-adviser-just-admitted-scam-maga-core
- SolutionsWatch, 02/11/26
Source: Corbett Report
“The Great Reject is Upon Us!” (02/11/26)
https://corbettreport.com/the-great-reject-is-upon-us-solutionswatch/
- Reasonably Optimistic, 02/11/26
Source: Washington Post
“An economist explains why he’s still ‘bullish on America’ — AI and all.” (02/11/26)